White glue: Elmers glue all vs. Elmers School glue vs. dollar store

I believe its the same, different names & upc #s for fifferent retail & internet outlets

School glue is watered down.

I have used dollar store glue and Elmer's regular.  I don't see a difference. in performance.

Have Fun!

Ron

I would go with Elmer's white for work like ballasting. For scenary I also really like Aleene's tacky glue as it is thicker and dries faster. Also if you are building structures, I would then look at the glues used especially for them. I never go cheap on glues, tools or paint if I can afford it.

Miketg

Elmer's is non toxic.....dollar store is IMPORTED,maybe nontoxic,maybe not...

Glue? Hmmmm.....

Elmers (real and dollar store)- Scenery and ballast
Tacky Glue- scenery
Yellow wood glue- larger projects requiring more hold
Testors Modeling Glue- building kits
JB Weld- metal repairs
Hot Glue- scenery (holds bass/ balsa wood well)
Gorilla Glue (regular and instant hold)

Biggest difference I've found between Elmers and the cheap stuff is the quality of the bottles.

Someone posted a link to this site recently. I bookmarked it in my browser.

Both dry clear, but Elmer's Glue All is more permanent.  Dried School glue can be softened with water, so it it preferred for ballasting when you inevitably need to replace that turnout that fails or derails.   I use diluted School Glue or Matte Medium (Modge Podge) for large scenery areas.  

Glue All is good for wood kits.  Yellow Carpenter's Glue is stronger but does not dry clear.  

Bob

We used Matte Medium, purchased by the gallon from Scenic Express, for glueing everything related to scenery, such as ballast & ground cover. Thinned with warm water to the consistency of whole milk, moisten the area first with cheap alcohol, and then flood the area with the diluted Matte Medium. Works great, and also adds some sound-deadening to the ballasted track.

Dollar store!

Specialty glues such as cyanoacrylate are a different story. Cheap ones are junk.

Someone else posted this, but the Elmer's school glue can be cleaned up with water even after it dries. ( Hence the name "school glue") The regular is more permanent. If you are diluting and using with ballast, I don't see how it makes much difference.

Here is a good site for gluing questions:

www.thistothat.com

The Elmers glue subject was discussed in length about a year ago. If you are interested, please do a search using "Elmers" and the date was 04/01/19. 

Hope that helps. 

My personal preference is Elmers "glue all" for reasons discussed previously.

Donald

@joe krasko posted:

Elmer's is non toxic.....dollar store is IMPORTED,maybe nontoxic,maybe not...

If I survived eating white kindergarten paste I'll probably get by on this stuff.

@Forty Rod posted:

If I survived eating white kindergarten paste I'll probably get by on this stuff.

Tom...I knew I was not the only one.....

I buy Elmer's glue all by the gallon from Staples for convenience.

Paul

There is a difference between Glue All and School Glue...Glue All is best for ballasting due to easier dilution (I learned the hard way).

Generic white glue will likely work fine for ballast, casein glue is not exactly rocket science. Matte Medium works, too.  One of the things with glues is there isn't any one that works for everything, and also it is about the person using it, glues other people swear by have often left me cursing. I don't have a lot of luck with cyanoacrylate glues, I do better with expoxy and some other forms.

They all taste about the same to me. 

White glue is great for many projects, but I agree with above comments that there is no one glue that is suitable for every project.  Always depends on the types of surfaces you are trying to bond together. 

To me all the "white" glues are pretty much the same. Regarding the others I have a few comments: As far as the cyanoacrylates go I have found the holding strength, working time, and ease of use to vary. The cheap ones found at the dollar stores and Harbor Freight are worthless. My own preference is a bit on the expensive side but has a 90 second window to work in and unbelievable hold - Loctite 380 Black Max, a rubberized contact cement. For a general purpose adhesive try Walther's Goo. It can be "undone", but for a more permanent bond heat it with a hair dryer until it bubbles and then put the surfaces together.

cyanoacrylates in gel form are far easier to use

The last model that I built was a HO wooden a model of the SP San Leandro Depot in 2018.  I don't build very models.

I used Canopy glue for everything.  It held the wood really well and is still holding today.  Best of all, it dried clear and is not noticeable wherever I made a mistake.  I made a lot of gluing errors.    

I used it for all of the window glazing too.  That is what it is made for.  NH Joe

My Dollar store sells the Elmer's School Glue really cheap, so I have been buying that, and diluting it even further, for Woodlands grass scenary stuff.  But, it would not hold the ballast in place.  The Woodland gray medium ballast I bought literally soaked up the diluted white glue, so no seal was formed. 

So, for ballast, I switched to LockTight Express Interior Wood Glue (10 minute clamp time, and not waterproof).  I spread it down thick, pour the ballast on thick, tamp the ballast down lightly, let it dry overnight, and then lightly vacuum overtop of it to take off the very top layer of ballast that didn't glue down.   No need for spray bottles of watered glue, and repeated spritzing to put ballast down.

Mannyrock